Low burning embers…
Tenor saxist Dustin Laurenzi creates calm waters of post bop sounds with Jeff Swanson/g, Mike Harmon/b and Charles Rumback/dr on an album of five originals. His tone is similar to that of Mark Turner, with warm embers of dark orange glowing over Swanson’s strums on “Mantra” while doing a bit of arm wrestling with Rumback after his intro to “Albert.” The team gets elliptical with Harmon in the lead on “Slate” while guitar and sax step together on “Blocks”. Pastel colors.
The McCullough plays trumpet and flugelhorn with his team of Matt Ulery/b, Jon Deitemyer/dr and Rob Clearfield/p and this collection of muted hues. Ryan Cohan adds keyboards and programming for a handful of tunes, such as the dreamy “Water Color Sunset” and classically toned “Oak Park”, both of which are reminiscent of vintage Windham Hill recordings. McCullough himself sounds like Gil Evans-era Miles on cadence of “Gentle” and post bop “Focal Point” while he’s as fluffy as a Nimbus cloud on the lovely “November Lake”. Givenchy moods.